1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to digital cameras, specifically to a magnifier to magnify the liquid crystal display of a digital camera.
2. Description of Prior Art
Recently, digital cameras become increasingly popular and are widely used replacing traditional 35 mm film cameras for taking pictures. A digital camera has a liquid crystal display that can show pictures stored in the camera. The display is primarily used as a view finder to show the view that will be taken by the camera. In contrast to video game apparatus or other computer related apparatus (e.g., laptop computers, DVD players, etc.), where liquid crystal displays are getting larger as their manufacturing cost goes down, liquid crystal displays in digital cameras cannot be made larger, because digital cameras must be compact. The diagonal size of liquid crystal display in a digital camera is normally about 38.1-63.5 mm (1.5″-2.5″). It is difficult to see details in the view shown in a small display, especially for aged people. Although most cameras have zoom feature for the display mode, it is useful only for viewing pictures already taken and stored in the camera.
To take a good and satisfying picture, a photographer must be able to see sufficient details in the view before he or she presses the shutter button. It is, of course, impossible to use the zoom feature, since the action to be photographed will be over and the related view will be missed if the view is seen using the zoom feature.
A solution to the aforementioned problem is to use an optical magnifier. Screen-Shade, Burbank, Calif. (www.screen-shade.com) (2005), markets a screen shade with a polycarbonate magnifier to cover the liquid crystal display of a digital camera or a video camera. The screen shade is mounted to the camera using self-stick hook-and-loop (Velcro) strips around the display. The maximum magnification is 2×. On the other hand, Hoodman Corp., Torrance, Calif. (www.hoodmanusa.com) (2005), markets a hood with a 2× magnifier for digital or video cameras. The hood is mounted over the display using a strap.
The drawbacks of these products are:
    1. The self-stick hook-and-loop strips may leave stickum on the body of camera, which is hard to clean. Depending upon the camera model, there may be no sufficient space for sticking the hook-and-loop strips around the display.    2. While the strap of the hood may be good for video cameras, it will not work well with digital cameras, since the strap may block the camera lens, if the display is behind the camera lens.    3. The screen shade and hood extending from the display may obstruct the operation of the camera.    4. To get higher magnification (i.e., larger than 2×), the magnifier must be placed further away from the display. The hook-and-loop strips and the mounting strap are not strong enough to hold a lens far from the camera body.
A method for magnifying the display of a digital camera, which is applied to a printer, is disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0212822 to Schinner. The camera is inserted into a docking station that holds a magnifying lens. The docking station is directly connected or connected by a cable to a printer. The drawbacks of this method are:    1. The magnifying lens is not mounted on the camera but is mounted on a docking station, which is bulky and heavy as compared with a digital camera.    2. The docking station is a complex system that requires a multi-pin connector to connect to the camera.    3. The magnifying lens is used only for previewing photographs, and practically cannot be used for taking a picture.
Other magnifier mounting mechanisms have been disclosed in US patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,819 (1984) to Funada et al. for a pocket TV; U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,799 (1991) to Pine et al. for a pager; U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,935 (1991) to Sakurai, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,119,239 (1992) and 5,307,209 (1994) to Iaquinto et al., all for a video game player, U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,459 (2000) to Lincoln et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,686 (2001) to Richard, both for a cell phone. However, none can be used with a digital camera.
To summarize, the prior art fails to teach any magnifier that can magnify the liquid crystal display of a digital camera, that can be easily but securely and removably mounted on the camera, that will not obstruct the operation of the camera, or that is inexpensive and can be universally mounted to most digital cameras, regardless of their makers and models.